New, improved Howard leads Magic in preseason opener

Defensive-minded center shows off some new offensive moves

October 6, 2010|By Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel

HIDALGO, Texas — Dwight Howard dedicated several days of his summer vacation to working with Hakeem Olajuwon. More than anything else, Olajuwon stressed that Howard needs to be fearless and try new things on the court.

Howard apparently learned that lesson well.

On Tuesday night, the superstar center confidently unveiled a more diversified offensive attack and, in the process, he tormented the team Olajuwon once carried to greatness.

Hardly anyone will care months from now that the Orlando Magic defeated the Houston Rockets 97-88 in the preseason opener for both teams. But maybe, just maybe, the exhibition in this southern Texas border city will be remembered as the night Howard's repertoire showed true growth.

"I'm just playing and working on my game," Howard said afterward. "If I hit shots, I hit a shot. But I'm not really focused on that. My job is help my teammates get better and help us get better. We've got a long season."

Howard finished with 19 points and made nine of his 14 shot attempts.

In the first quarter, he sank a pair of midrange jumpers, banking the ball softly off the glass. He also dribbled past immobile and rusty Yao Ming, deking right and driving left to complete an acrobatic reverse layup that brought Magic bench players to their feet.

"I thought Dwight was terrific all night," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He hit those two face-up bank shots. He put the ball on the floor. He was real good. I thought our post game in general was very good."

But the Magic took other positives — and a few negatives — back to Central Florida.

Small forward Quentin Richardson, making his Magic debut, contributed little offensively, scoring just four points, but he grabbed seven rebounds.

Richardson also seemed immersed in the game, often hopping off the bench to cheer on his new teammates. His voice could be heard often over a mostly quiet announced crowd of 4,854 inside State Farm Arena.

Chris Duhon, the new backup to starting point guard Jameer Nelson, drained a 15-foot jumper on his first possession as a Magic player. In the second quarter, he sliced through the lane for an easy layup. Minutes after that, he drew a charge on Houston's Kyle Lowry.

Van Gundy entered this month intent on experimenting with new lineups and different combinations of players.

He started Tuesday's exhibition with a conventional lineup of Nelson at point guard, Vince Carter at shooting guard, Richardson at small forward, Rashard Lewis at power forward and Howard at center. That likely will be the configuration Orlando opens with in its regular-season opener on Oct. 28.

Van Gundy switched things up at the start of the third quarter, shifting Lewis to his natural position of small forward and playing Ryan Anderson at power forward.

Lewis finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, a good sign for him.

He began the last season with a 10-game suspension, and he never sustained any momentum once he returned to the court. His offensive production fell to 14.1 points per game. The team needs more from him in the year ahead.

The Magic held the Rockets to 39.5 percent shooting, a number defensive-minded Van Gundy should like.

Then there were the negatives.

Although the Orlando offense scored 61 points in the first half, the team bogged down in the second half, scoring just 36 points.

"I think what happened in the second half is we just didn't pass the ball," Van Gundy said. "We didn't move the ball, so we went into a big scoring drought. Their defense was good, and we weren't willing to make the second, third and fourth passes."

Orlando also finished with 18 turnovers.

Still, Howard's play, and the team's post play in general, were positives. If Howard can expand his offensive game, the Magic will have a better chance to beat teams with big front lines, especially in the playoffs.

Tuesday was a good start -- for Howard and for his team.

Read Josh Robbins' blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.